


Snow and Snuggles

by vix_spes



Series: Christmas Gift!Fics 2013 [21]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, M/M, Pining, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 17:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1175894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s freezing, they’re stuck in the snow and Reid is really testing Morgan’s self-control</p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow and Snuggles

Morgan cursed as the car battery finally died a death with a bit of a splutter and some smoke emerging from under the bonnet. This was just what they needed. He and Reid had been on their way to interview some potential witnesses when everything had gone to hell. Reid had solved managed to solve the case on their drive up because he was Reid. After phoning Hotch they had come to the decision that it would take too long for them to wait for the rest of the team, so they would go on by themselves. Of course it had all gone wrong at that point. The weather had been horrendous for weeks, one of the reasons that the local police had been struggling so much, with the whole area blanketed in snow and more of it arriving all the time. The unsub had panicked and tried to make a run for it when they had tried to confront him but when that didn’t work, he had decided to take a hostage. Given Reid’s previous history of being grabbed as a hostage by unsubs, Morgan knew that he really shouldn’t be surprised that the man grabbed Reid and started backing away from Morgan. Started backing out onto a frozen pond that creaked ominously and ramped up Morgan’s need to get this resolved quickly. When negotiation failed to work and the unsub was just getting more and more agitated, Morgan was forced to resort to shooting him just as the ice broke beneath them sending both Reid and the unsub plunging into the freezing cold water below. Holstering his gun, Morgan then slid across the ice fumbling for Reid before he was exposed to the cold water for any longer than he had to be. From there, there was nothing that Morgan and Reid could do but leave things to the local sheriffs and try to get back to the jet and the rest of the time.  
  
Morgan looked over at the passenger seat as Reid shivered violently, his teeth actually chattering with the movement, despite the fact that the heaters were turned up as high as they would go and blasting hot air. That right there - the shivering man sat in the passenger seat - was the reason that he needed to find them some shelter and as quickly as possible.  Reid had taken the brunt of the plunge into the icy water and his clothes were absolutely soaked through, not to mention the fact that he had had a gun pointed at his head. Again. The local sheriffs had offered him some extra clothing but it hadn’t been long before he was shivering again. Considering how skinny he was though, it wasn’t surprising that the cold had affected Reid so quickly.  
  
The only question was, what was he going to do to resolve the situation?  
  
If he was being truthful, they had been lucky to get as far as they had. The fact that they were in a SUV had helped them get further than a normal car would despite the rapidly deteriorating weather but even the SUV had found the journey hard-going. The likelihood that a rescue tow-truck would get to them was unlikely; there were going to be people who were in much direr straights than they were. Unfortunately, that left them in the middle of nowhere with nowhere nearby to seek shelter and Reid in clothes that were soaking wet. Morgan couldn’t help but wish that he had ignored Reid when Reid had insisted on them trying to get to the airstrip to meet the others. However, that meant that he would have had to resist Reid’s puppy dog eyes (even if the younger man insisted that he didn’t use them) and, quite frankly, he was so far from immune it was untrue even if they had been working together for years. If they had stayed then they at least would have had shelter, if not dry clothes.  
  
Pulling out his phone, he saw that he still had battery left but it wasn’t that much and they were going to need to conserve some battery in case something went badly wrong. Having said that, the snow had obliterated any mobile signal so there was nothing that they could do even though they had battery. Going out in the snow wasn’t going to help either of them, especially considering that the weather was getting progressively worse. Even if he did manage to find shelter, the likelihood of him making it back to the car and Reid in this weather was virtually impossible. The only option was to hope that the SUV had been stocked with supplies as it was supposed to be. And that meant that Morgan’s self-restraint was going to be tested to the limit because the only option that they had was sleeping in the SUV.  
  
One of the reasons that Morgan had no immunity to Reid’s puppy-dog eyes was because he wanted to be much more than friends and colleagues. He had done for a while now, although it had taken him long enough to work out that that was how he felt. He had come to that realisation when he had noticed Lila Archer getting much closer to Reid than he liked. He had always felt drawn to the genius, ever since he had arrived from the FBI Academy. Okay, so he hadn’t been as nice as he could have been from the very beginning and, once he realised his true feelings for Reid, he had realised that he had been attracted to the younger man from the outset and his teasing had been a more adult version of pulling pigtails. The number of times that Reid had ended up in danger and Morgan had had to watch Reid put himself in harm’s way or get injured, he had had to bite his tongue to stop himself from confessing. Reid lying in a hospital bed after having been infected with anthrax had been a huge test of his willpower.  
  
And now, he was going to face a true test of his willpower that had nothing to do with Reid being injured or held hostage. Now, the test was having to sleep in the same bed – or the same van – as Reid. Having to strip off and sleep with his crush would test any man’s willpower and Morgan was no different. Besides, it wasn’t as though they had any other options. Now all he had to do was to persuade Reid that this was the only option that they had. He might as well get everything sorted so that Reid didn’t have any option to back out so put down the back seats to give them as much space as he could and then pulled out a couple of blankets that were kept in the SUV in case of emergencies just like this. With that done, he braced himself to tell Reid the news that they wouldn’t be making it to the jet tonight.  
  
“Reid, get your wet clothes off and get in the back.”  
  
“What are you talking about Morgan?” Reid dragged his attention away from the notes that he had been scrawling and seemed to finally realise what Morgan had done. “Why have you done that?”  
  
“Reid, it’s practically a white-out out there. We can’t get to the others at the airport and we can’t get back to the village; we’re stuck here overnight. Those clothes are soaked through and you’re shivering.”  
  
“But surely, we’ve got this far…”  
  
“Reid, stop grumbling. We won’t make it. We’ve been struggling for a while and we can’t go anywhere. Staying here is the only option. Get your wet clothes off and get in the back. We’re going to have to share body heat or you’re going to end up in hospital. Again.”  
  
Reid grumbled, of course he did, but he did at least do as he was told. Much to Morgan’s relief. He turned his head and did his best to give Reid what privacy he could as he took his clothes off and spread them out on the front seats to dry before slipping under the sparse blankets. As soon as he was satisfied that Reid was out of his cold, wet clothes and under the relative warmth of the dry blankets, Morgan turned off the heaters that  he had had going full blast before stripping himself, spreading his clothes on the front seats and climbing under the blankets next to Reid.  
  
Of course, Reid had to make it harder for him. Who would have guessed that the famous Dr. Spencer Reid was a complete and utter cuddle-whore? The instant that Morgan had stripped himself down to dry clothes –essentially his boxers and an undershirt – and climbed under the blankets, Reid had rolled over and latched onto him like a limpet. When Morgan had moved or rather tried to move, even just a fraction, Reid had _genuinely whimpered_ and muttered something about being warm. Every time that Morgan moved, Reid followed him, refusing to be parted from him by even a fraction of an inch. It would appear that Morgan had been reduced to being nothing more than Dr Spencer Reid’s own personal space heater. For such a skinny man, there was no doubting that Spencer Reid was incredibly strong, much stronger than people would give him credit for. He was now using that strength to ensure that Morgan couldn’t budge an inch without Reid allowing him to do so. Not that he really minded although there was a downside. Reid had pressed himself against Morgan from collarbone to toes and Morgan had had to resist the urge to shiver at the feeling of Reid’s ice-cold skin.  
  
Oh well, there were worse things he could be he supposed. He should probably consider telling Reid how he felt but while he could still understand Reid better than the rest of the BAU, with the exception of JJ, even he had no idea whether Reid felt more for him than friendship. He had absolutely no intention of ruining the friendship that they had on the off-chance that Reid felt for the same for him. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t dream though and imagine what it would be like if he and Reid could have the kind of relationship that Morgan dreamed about. His mama and sisters would adore it if he brought Reid home as his boyfriend, lover, partner, however you wanted to describe it. They had absolutely adored the young genius when he had visited the Morgan family home and now asked after him every time they spoke to Morgan.  
  
At that precise second, as if subconsciously realising that Morgan was thinking about him and also thinking that he hadn’t tortured Morgan enough yet, Reid shivered and snuggled even closer to Morgan. He was so close that Morgan could feel Reid’s breath on his neck and all he had to do was to tilt his head fractionally for his nose to be buried in Reid’s hair. He didn’t bother resisting, inhaling the scent that was pure Spencer. It wasn’t enough though. Craning his neck, he pressed a kiss to Reid’s temple and then wrapped his arms tighter around the thin body, ensuring that there was not an inch between them.  
  
This would have to do; it was all he could have. Maybe one day he would have more but, until the day that he spoke up, he would have memories of snuggling in the snow.

**Author's Note:**

> If you would prefer to comment on LJ, you can do so [here](http://vix-spes.livejournal.com/156370.html)


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